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Les Guignols de
l'info ( ) is a satiricallatexpuppet show
broadcast on Canal+, a French
subscription-based television channel.Hosted by a puppet
facsimile of TF1 news anchor Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, Les
Guignols is similar to the 1984–1996 British show Spitting Image. A segment
appeared every weeknight on the Canal+ program Nulle part ailleurs, with a weekly
recapitulation on Sundays ("La Semaine des Guignols", best of the
week). While Nulle part ailleurs no longer runs, the
Guignols are still running inside the Canal+ TV Show
Le Grand Journal. Since the start of 2009 the show always
begins with the line "Nous sommes en 2009 et vous regardez la
télévision avec publicité, bonsoir." ("It's 2009 and you're
watching television with advertising (a play on the recent
elimination of advertisements on public channels), good evening.")
Previously other lines have been used and changed roughly twice a
year.

The show started in 1988 as Les Arènes de l'info (News
Arena). It originally did not follow the news of the day and was
not very popular. It was not until 1990–1991 and the first Gulf War that the show began to follow the news. It
enjoyed a tremendous growth in popularity and quickly eclipsed its
rival, Le Bébête
Show.

Impact on popular culture

The Guignols have had a tremendous impact on French popular culture, in many case
introducing or popularizing phrases. For instance, à l'insu de
mon plein gré ("without the knowledge of my own free will"),
repeated by the puppet representing Richard Virenque is now attributed in jest
to people who hypocritically deny having willfully committed
attributed acts. The impact of political caricature in the
Guignols is unclear, but some polls have shown that they
influence voters.

Chirac, running in the 1995 presidential
election, was shown by the Guignols as unable to
articulate a credible program beyond Eat apples!, the
apple tree being the symbol of his campaign, but "sympa" (the nice,
likable guy).

The show is known to be able to go further in challenging current
popular figures and thought than many other forms of media. Some
sketches displayed for example Raymond Barre, a former Prime
Minister in a gonzo pornographic scene, President Jacques Chirac and his team in a Pulp Fiction–like destruction race to
eliminate their competitors or the then Minister of Interior
Department Nicolas Sarkozy as a
flip-flopping politician.

Famous characters

The characters in the Guignols are either inspired by real
personalities of the political, economic and artistic worlds
(generally, by anybody who appears in the news)
or else are fictional.

PPD is a caricature of Patrick Poivre d'Arvor (aka
PPDA), a news anchor. He is depicted as a rather cowardly
journalist who tries to get on with the mighty and the powerful,
but who uses irony and sarcasm to get his point across. He also
sports a variety of hairstyles, trying to mask his receding
hairline. The impression of his voice by Yves Lecocq is close to
perfection

Commandant Sylvestre, M.Sylvestre and Cardinal Sylvestre
are fictional characters based on the American actor Sylvester Stallone (although when
Sylvester Stallone himself is
represented, or represented as Rambo he
has a different appearance and a different voice). They are a
parody of "an ugly
American", or sometimes the archetype
of greedy multinationals and superpowers. They always say
"Beuuarhh" as a salute. During the first Gulf
War, the Guignols had a character called
Commandant Sylvestre. Cmdt Sylvestre would explain the war
in broad terms ("Here's the good guys, that's us, and here are the
ragheads, so we'll kill everybody there...") After the war, Cmdt
Sylvestre was reintroduced as Mr Sylvestre, a ubiquitous executive
from the military-industrial
complex, the corporate world (all mixed
into the fictional corporation World
Company), and the CIA. Sylvestre is dressed
in suit and tie and wears a security badge. He is assisted by
clones of himself (some with greyish hair) all called "Bob", no
matter what position he's holding. His appearance is a blend of
Sylvester Stallone and Al Pacino (mainly the lower part of his
face). Cardinal Sylvestre, joined with Reverend
Sylvestre, Imam Sylvestre, Rabbi Sylvestre
and other religious leaders, form the Church Company, twin sister of the World Company specialized in "religious
business".

Jacques Chirac
is depicted as a beer-guzzling, impulsive, incompetent liar who
embezzles public money and yet comes off as charming, charismatic,
and well-loved. The Guignols went as far as to introduce
Super Menteur (Super-Liar), a super
hero, into whom Jacques Chirac
changes in times of need (see Clark
Kent/Superman). Super Menteur is
capable of uttering unbelievable lies without getting caught.

George W.Bush is depicted as
a cretin along with his father. He shows a tendency to war and
fights terrorism in his bedroom, defending himself with hand
grenades (beer cans). His laptop password is "connard" (the French
word for "dumbass").

Former Prime Minister Lionel
Jospin as competent and honest but boring. He's depicted as
disappointed by France (he passes, time to time, to say "pays de
merde", which can be translated roughly as "this country
sucks");

The Minister of Health, Youth Affairs and Sports Roselyne Bachelot-Narquin as an
incompetent airhead.
She usually answers to questions with a "Ah booooooon ?" -
"Vrraaaiiiiment ?" - as she's clueless about her own ministry
;

The current president Nicolas
Sarkozy as overly ambitious and populist and short-tempered. He
collects Rolex watches and keeps diverting attention to his wife,
Carla Bruni, who's "so beautiful cause
she's so talented cause she sings so well cause she's so his
wife";

Ségolène Royal, the
Socialist Party candidate for the 2007 presidential election, as
constantly following opinion polls and
pretending to be a woman of the people.

François Bayrou, the
centrist candidate for France's presidency who has delusions of
grandeur. His huge-eared puppet is childish and whiny.

Criticism

The Guignols have been criticised for being leftist and populist and for
presenting a cynical and over-simplified
version of reality and politics. The show's authors have admitted
leftist leanings. Some critics have accused the show of being
anti-American. Others argue that
treatment of Osama bin Laden makes
him look nice.

After the departure of two of the original authors in the late
1990s, the show has been criticized as lacking wit and freshness
and having become too overtly populist and partisan. Some critics
that the show is in decline. It still has good ratings however. The
show's treatment of Nicolas Sarkozy
has been criticized as excessively biased, aggressive and humorless
. Bruno Gaccio, prior to the French presidential election
of 2007, was said to admitted that he meant the Guignols to
openly campaign against Sarkozy, but later stated that he had been
misquoted.